Red Moon: 暁
by CrimsonEdge7
Summary: Akatsuki's on the move! How will Konoha respond to the threat of Pain, and will Naruto finish his training in time to help out? Also, Sakura decides to confront her feelings about Naruto, but will she be able to tell him before it's too late?
1. Prologue: New Moon

A/N: This story takes place immediately after chapter 410, but it ignores the Taka vs. 8-Tails fight to concentrate more on Naruto and Konoha in general. I'll probably include Sasuke and them in it in a later chapter, but for now, he's left out.

* * *

**Red Moon: ****暁**

Prologue: New Moon

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was many things. He was a shinobi of Konoha. He was a Jinchuuriki--the container for the 9-Tailed Demon Fox, Kyuubi. He was in love with a certain pink-haired kunoichi. He was (according to him, at least) the future Hokage. One thing he was absolutely _not_, however, was patient--a fact he was becoming increasingly aware of as he sat here doing _nothing, _trying to learn how to harness natural energy so that he can use Senjutsu. The stone frogs of Mobyoku Mountain stared down at him, almost as if beckoning him to join them in their stony, amphibious fate.

_I can't end up like them,_ thought the blonde-haired ninja to himself determinedly. He seemed to be getting the hang of this "natural energy" stuff...he could feel it coming into him at the spots where the ancient toad Fukasaku had applied the frog oil to his skin. He smirked. _I may even get this done and over with before nightfall_. Of course, this thought broke his concentration, causing the delicate balance of the three energies mixing inside of him to tip, and his right arm started to gain the features of a frog.

"You have to concentrate, you idiot!" yelled Fukasaku at the overconfident shinobi, who was currently becoming more amphibious by the second. Whipping out his trusty staff, the wise old toad gave Naruto a sharp crack on the top of the head, dispersing the natural energy from his body and reverting him to his normal, decidedly human self.

The orange-garbed ninja gave a yelp, then turned toward the aging toad with a glare. "You didn't have to hit me that hard..." he said sourly.

Fukasaku responded with a sigh, and said, "Look, you can't lose your concentration for a second if you want to get through this without becoming one of _them_." He jerked the staff over his shoulder to indicate the giant frog statues.

With a pout, Naruto spun away from the sagely toad and continued trying to focus on drawing on the natural energy.

"This is going to take a while..." remarked the larger toad who had also been observing, Gamakichi. He sighed and closed his eyes for a bit, lulled to sleep by the tranquility of Mobyoku Mountain.

* * *

The hidden village of Konoha was currently in a state of silence. It would be wrong to call it peace, since the tension in the air was so thick that even the normal villagers could feel it. Something was about to happen. Something big. No one was more attuned to this feeling than Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage herself, who had been among the closest to the events at hand. While she may seem stoic and collected to many of the shinobi she commanded, those closest to her--namely Shizune, her long-time assistant, and Haruno Sakura, her apprentice--could tell that she was suffering. Not only was the village approaching some unknown event that seemed to be weighing down on all of them, but the buxom Hokage had been the recently-deceased Jiraiya's closest precious person, even closer to him than Naruto.

She still remembered the resolution that she had made while he was away, that he would no longer have to put on a tough front for her if he made it back. She had finally acknowledged her own affection for the white-haired hermit...but it had been too late. He hadn't come back, and the sight of his toad messenger had nearly torn Tsunade's heart from her chest on the spot. It was all she could do not to break down and cry at any given moment, and this was painfully obvious to Sakura, who was currently at her side as she was addressing some ninja who were about to embark on a mission. Sakura had finally seen more than she could bear, and once the last of the day's appointments had left the Hokage's office, she turned towards her master.

"Tsunade-shishou..."

"Yes, Sakura?" inquired her teacher. She feigned a mild demeanor, but Sakura knew that her eyes belied her true feelings at the moment.

"Shishou, it's not healthy for you to keep bottling this up," stated the roseate kunoichi.

"What are you talking about, Sakura?"

She gave her master a stern look. "You know damn well what I'm talking about, so don't pretend that you're fine! I can see that you're hurting, and so can Shizune! Why don't you just talk about it, already?"

Tsunade cast her gaze away, unable to look her apprentice in the eye. "Talk about what?"

"About Jiraiya-sama! Please, just talk about it...you need to open up to someone, or you'll be like this forever." She gazed at her teacher with a pleading look in her eyes. "Do you really think he would have wanted you to dwell on his death like this?"

"He...he was...very close to me," stated the older woman, shoulders drooping. "He was an idiot and a pervert, sure, but...he was an amazing person. He could accomplish incredible feats when he put his mind to it." She let out a small smile in remembrance of his antics. "He would always ask me out on dates...and I would always turn him down. Although...I was really just trying to deny the truth. The truth is, now that he's gone, I realize just how much happier I was while I he was around." She turned to the window, a far-away look in her eyes. "Sakura...did you know that I was going to say yes when he came back?"

Sakura's eyes grew slightly wide in surprise. "Shishou, I had no idea..."

"Yes..." Tsunade gave another sad smile. "I loved him. Still do, really...it's killing me knowing that it took me until it was too late to finally realize it, though." She turned back around to face her apprentice. "Thank you, Sakura. I really needed that. I actually feel a lot better getting that off of my chest."

The younger ninja could already tell that her master, who she viewed as sort of a surrogate grandmother, was doing much better than she was before. "It was nothing, Tsunade-shishou. I was just worried about you."

Tsunade gave a rare true smile. "I appreciate it, I really do. I may not be completely okay, but at least I feel like I can make it through the day, now."

Sakura began to walk towards the door, sensing that her master would rather have some time alone now.

"Sakura, wait," Tsunade commanded.

"Yes, Shishou?" Sakura responded, turning back around.

"Don't repeat the same mistakes I did. I may have lost the big pervert, but I'll be damned if I let you lose the one closest to you, too." She gave Sakura a pointed stare.

The younger kunoichi looked down at the floor, deep in thought. After a few moments, she locked her gaze with Tsunade's once more and nodded, understanding shining in her eyes. "Right."

As her pink-haired apprentice left the office and shut the door behind her, her master breathed a sigh of relief. She gazed out the window as the girl walked away from the Hokage tower. "Sakura, you'd better not wait too long to tell him. I have a feeling he's going to need every bit of help he can get in order to make it through the battles ahead in one piece, and what better motivator is there than the love of a beautiful young woman to return home alive?"

* * *

Sakura walked home slowly in the cool night air, taking her time so she could mull over what her teacher had said. _I guess I never really noticed it before, but Naruto and I are a lot like our teachers_, mused the young medic-nin. _And, now that I think about it...I am a lot happier with Naruto around. I can't even imagine what my life would be like without him in it. I...I love him._ "I love Naruto..." she whispered, as if testing the words out. Confidence began to well up within her, and she repeated her statement, louder this time. "I love Naruto." Yes! It was true. She had been running from it all this time, but now that she was forced by Tsunade to stare it in the face, it couldn't have been more obvious to her.

_But wait...what about Sasuke?_

Sasuke...that name had been taboo for her for ever since he had left, and had been the sole object of her affection during the early days of Team 7. She searched her thoughts, trying to sort out her feelings for the raven-haired boy. She cared for the boy, there was no question about that, but...it was not the all-consuming thing it once was. Looking back, she saw her earlier feelings for Sasuke for what they truly were--just a silly schoolgirl crush. Her current feelings were more akin to that of Naruto's about him: a teammate, a comrade, a brother...and nothing more.

This thought brought a sense of relief over the pink-haired girl. Now, with no doubts in her mind, she could truly admit to loving Naruto, and do it without regrets of any kind. There was no uncertainty anymore...it was now just pure, unbridled, love. Determination burning in her eyes, she quickened her pace towards home. She now knew exactly what she had to do.

Sakura allowed herself a mischievous grin. When Naruto came home, he was in for one _hell_ of a surprise.

* * *

A/N: Well, that's it for the Prologue of my first chapter fic! Let me know what you think!

A/N 2: Forgot to include this originally, but 暁is the symbol for Akatsuki, which means dawn, or red moon...hence the title :P

A/N 3: Fixed a typo.


	2. 1st Phase: Waxing Crescent

A/N: In case you missed it, I added the meaning to the symbol in the title to the bottom of the prologue. On with the chapter!

* * *

**Red Moon: ****暁**

1st Phase: Waxing Crescent

* * *

In the expansive forest surrounding Konoha that gave the village its name, all seemed still. However, if one looked closely, seven shadows could be seen approaching stealthily amongst the cover of darkness. To the outside observer, they would be nothing but red-and-black blurs, moving through the forest with such speed and purpose that no one untrained in the ninja arts could clearly make out their forms. They were Akatsuki, and they had a mission: to capture the 9-tailed Jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, and take him back to their hideout so that they could extract the beast and use it for their own ends.

In the lead was Konan, the blue-haired kunoichi who used paper for her ninjutsu, forming it into useful tools and deadly weapons by using her chakra to control its strength, sharpness, and hardness. Following closely behind were the 6 bodies that made up the "god" known as Pain, each covered in strange black piercings and sporting ginger hair. Their black cloaks patterned with red clouds flapped behind them as the wind rushed past their bodies. It was only a matter of time until they reached their destination, and anyone who got in their way would not live long enough to realize just what had hit them.

* * *

Haruno Sakura may not have had any problem getting up early to get to missions or the hospital on any normal day, but since this _particular_ day was her first real day off in almost a month, she was more than a little irate when her alarm started blaring at 6:00 in the morning.

_Ugh, I thought I turned that stupid thing off_, thought Sakura to herself groggily. She opened her eyes briefly, only to shut them again at the intense light of the sun staring her right in the face through her open window. _Well, there's no way I'm getting back to sleep now, so I may as well get up_.

The young ninja slowly got out of bed and drug herself over to the bathroom so that she could take a shower. Sighing slightly in contentment as the warm water fell onto her skin, she began to think on her little revelation of the previous night. _Naruto..._ It was true that she was in love with the boy, but there wasn't really anything she could do for him while he was off training. _Wait a second_, she thought. _Maybe there _is _something I can do for him while he's gone._ Finally clean, she stepped out of the shower and toweled herself dry. After returning to her room and getting dressed, she proceeded to go to her kitchen and make herself some breakfast.

_Maybe I could stop by his apartment and clean it up for him,_ she mused while munching on some cereal. _God knows it's probably a mess with him being gone for so long training with Jiraiya, and then never being home for more than a day or two since then due to more training and missions._ The thought of Jiraiya made her once again remember her conversation with her master, as well as Naruto's initial reaction upon hearing about the old perverted hermit's death. This dampened her mood a little. _He was in so much pain...I mean, sure, he looked better when he had figured out part of the code, but when he left, he had that smile again._

His smile. It was one of the few constants about Naruto, being as unpredictable as he was. The orange-loving ninja was always smiling, and it wasn't until recently that Sakura had noticed that, most of the time, it was hollow. That smile of his was his automatic self-defense, and Sakura had noticed that he used it a lot, particularly whenever he talked about getting Sasuke back for her. He used it to hide his real feelings on things that troubled him, or at the very least to cheer people up when not even he himself was really cheerful. The pink-haired kunoichi had seen his real smiles (as it turns out, almost invariably directed at her) often enough now to distinguish them from his false ones, and now she worried every time she saw one of the fake ones.

Even more troubling than his false smiles, though, were the rare moments when his smile disappeared entirely. When he dropped all pretense of a facade and let his sadness show on his face for the world to see--that was what scared Sakura the most. He had been like that for a short time after he was told Jiraiya had died, and if Tsunade hadn't told her to leave him alone, she would have ran after him and tried to cheer him up. It had been all she could do not to go and comfort him; she just couldn't bear to see him unhappy.

She finished her breakfast and walked out of the one-bedroom apartment she had gotten after becoming a chuunin (mostly to get away from her overbearing mother). _I have to talk to Naruto when he gets back_, she decided. _I need to make sure he's okay, and let him know that I'm there for him to talk to if he ever needs it._ Resolving to follow up on her earlier decision to clean her blond-haired teammate's apartment for him, she headed over towards the other side of the village to the hyperactive idiot's apartment complex.

Sakura smiled to herself. "When I'm done with his apartment, the idiot won't even recognize it anymore."

* * *

"Achoo!" Naruto sneezed, throwing off his concentration for the umpteenth time that morning. He sighed and closed his eyes as he noticed the frog features starting to appear, readying himself for the pain of the old frog's staff hitting him on the head. He's had enough of this...and panicking every time it happened wasn't going to solve anything. The hit never came. _Huh?_

The hyperactive shinobi opened his eyes and looked down at his hands--there wasn't a single bit of frog skin there. "What happened?" he voiced aloud. "I could have sworn I was starting to turn into a frog again."

Fukasaku smiled and looked Naruto in the eye. "What happened is you're starting to get it."

"Huh? I am?" questioned the blond. "What do you mean? I wasn't even trying to get it when I changed back."

"What he means is, you were _thinking_ too much," answered Gamakichi. The much younger (but much larger) frog gave him a bit of a smirk. "You were too tense. Once you finally relaxed and let go, the energies balanced out on their own."

The young leaf shinobi blinked, still a little confused. "But I thought you said I had to concentrate?"

The wise old frog gazed sagely at Naruto. "You do, but you have to _feel_ the natural energy rather than _know_ it. It needs to be recognized at a subconscious level." He then put a hand to his chin, as if thinking over something. "Also, your body seems to already be accustomed to taking in foreign chakra. It could have something to do with the Kyuubi sealed inside of you."

"Ero-sennin did mention something about the fox's chakra mixing with mine a long time ago. And I guess being able to tap into his chakra at will is sort of similar to this." Naruto thought something over in his head for a minute. "I guess it just works the opposite way for Kyuubi. I have to know that he's there and more or less demand his chakra to use it. This needs a whole different mentality."

Gamakichi smirked again and quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "You're sharper than you look, boss."

The genin gave the large frog an angry look. "What's that supposed to mean?" he yelled.

The frog chuckled. "Nothing, nothing."

Before Naruto could throw any more angry remarks at the younger amphibian, Fukasaku took that moment to step in. "Alright, alright, stop it. Less arguing, more training. Pain won't sit around and wait for you to get strong enough to beat him, you know."

* * *

Four black cloaks with red clouds swirled as Team Taka walked into the hideout. Madara, Zetsu, and Kisame were already there, sitting around the room in their self-appointed chairs. Juugo, who had been carrying their quarry, dropped the man on the table in the center of the room. He was unconscious, but alive...for the moment, at any rate. He looked around the room, and noticed that two of the remaining members of Akatsuki, Konan and Pain, were not present.

After the team sat in their respective chairs, Sasuke wasted no time in pointing out the obvious to the somehow still-living older Uchiha who was sitting at the opposite end of the table. "I notice some of you are missing," he started. "Where did you send them?"

"Always observant, aren't you, Sasuke?" said Madara somewhat mockingly. "They're on their way to Konoha to capture the nine-tails."

"They'd better not touch anyone else." Sasuke fixed the masked ninja with a menacing glare. "No one needs to be killed except the elders...and they belong to _me_."

"You'll have to take that up with Pain. He's out of my hands, now."

Sasuke got up and started walking away from the table. "I'm going to Konoha to make sure things go my way," he said over his shoulder.

Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu started to get up as well, but Madara spoke before anyone could act. "Wait, Sasuke, it's time for the extraction ritual. I need all of us to do it properly, and he can't do anything until it's over with, anyways."

Grudgingly acknowledging this fact, Sasuke turned back around and reclaimed his seat. "Well then, let's get this over with, then."

Madara gave an unseen smirk under his mask. _He's like putty in my hands._

* * *

A/N: Well, that's it for Phase 1! Read and respond, and hope you enjoyed it! Keep on the lookout for Phase 2!


	3. 2nd Phase: Waxing Gibbous

A/N: Hi all! First of all, I want to thank everyone who's read and reviewed my story. It's good to know that people are enjoying it. Second, I realize that last chapter didn't have much (or any, really) Taka interaction in it, so...I put some of it in this chapter. Their dynamics are a little odd, to say the least (though not as odd as the One Piece crew...God help me whenever I decide to write a One Piece fic), so I hope I got them right. They're not really a team, so much as Sasuke and his 3 tools/distractions for other enemies. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with them throughout the rest of my story, but I'll figure something out. With that out of the way, on with the chapter!

* * *

**Red Moon: ****暁**

2nd Phase: Waxing Gibbous

* * *

In a cave somewhere near to Akatsuki's current hideout, 9 figures in black cloaks patterned with red clouds could be seen, gathered on top of the fingertips of an evil-looking statue. 2 of them, Pain and Konan, were merely projections of themselves--translucent figures that existed there as a chakra presence only. The rest, however, were truly in attendance. At the foot of the statue lay the man who was once known as the 8-tail Jinchuuriki, the bijuu's chakra slowly being extracted from his increasingly lifeless body. Sasuke's companion Karin, standing atop the index finger of the statue's right hand, was deep in thought as she stood there, providing Pain with the chakra necessary to extract the demon from the unconscious ninja.

_What are Sasuke-kun's real aims?_ she thought to herself. _After he kills the Konoha elders, does he just expect to be able to waltz back into his village and expect acceptance? Has he even looked that far ahead? Ever since he killed Itachi, he's seemed like he's been searching for another purpose. He found one in killing the elders, but what will that really accomplish?_

The red-haired girl shook the traitorous thoughts from her head. _No, I'm sure he's thought ahead. He's Sasuke-kun! He's the greatest! There's no way he's been acting irrationally. I shouldn't question him._ At that moment, a mischievous thought popped into her head. _Hmm...maybe I can ask him about his plans at our next meal. It'd be a great excuse to get close to him and slip one of my experimental love potions into his food, and then I can have my way with him!_

Suigetsu looked over at Karin and, noticing her evil-looking smile, guessed what she was thinking about. "Karin, think about sexing Sasuke up later!" He smirked as he said that. "We need to focus so we can get this thing done faster!" The kunoichi balked, and repeatedly denied thinking any such things.

While Karin and Suigetsu had their regular back-and-forth name-calling session, Juugo looked on in silence. He never really would understand his "teammates", if you could really call them that. The gentle giant was no fool--he knew that this team was really just a bunch of tools to Sasuke. They were to be used as needed, and brushed aside when they couldn't accomplish their task and Sasuke had to step in instead. Despite this, he still felt himself indebted to Sasuke, so he would continue to follow him, at least until such time as he could either completely suppress his homicidal urges on his own...or remove them entirely. At that point, if it ever came, what he did was up in the air--it was any one's guess where he'd go should he ever master his baser instincts.

He returned his attention to the task at hand. He disapproved of this ritual, but it was what Sasuke wished to do, so he followed suit. He looked over at Sasuke, who was trying his hardest to ignore his bickering companions--and judging by the slight twitch of his eyebrow, failing at it. _What are you going to do with this power?_ Juugo didn't see what Sasuke could possibly need the power of the 8-tails for--after all, he was already the one of the most powerful shinobi around, even with the recent removal of his curse seal. _Just what is going on in that head of yours, Sasuke?_

* * *

"Whew, finally finished!" Sakura exclaimed as she wiped the sweat off of her brow. She stood in the center of Naruto's apartment and surveyed her handiwork. The place hardly looked anything like it had before she had gotten there. She had gotten in via the spare key that Naruto had given her shortly after returning from his training trip. They had mutually agreed that if there was an emergency, it was a lot quicker to just have keys to each other's apartments than it was to have to knock and wait for the other to respond. The blond ninja's apartment had been a total mess, although most of it was due to the funk he had been in after Jiraiya had passed combined with the place never quite being cleaned up from his absence. It had taken her several hours, but she had cleaned up all of the instant ramen cups lying around the house, consolidated all of his junk mail from the two and a half years he had been gone (which he had neglected to do anything with) into a neat pile on his table, and dusted the entire apartment.

After her cleaning expedition, she wandered into the hyperactive future Hokage's bedroom absently. Sitting on the edge of his bed, she spotted Naruto's copy of the picture that they all had depicting themselves back when they were Team 7 on his dresser. This brought a nostalgic smile to her face, as she remembered the simpler times that they had shared before the Chuunin Exam--before Orochimaru and Akatsuki threw a wrench in their lives.

"I wonder where Sasuke-kun is now?" the kunoichi spoke to no one in particular. The 'kun' after his name came more as a habit now than any real sign of affection, what with him being gone for so long and her recent revelation about her other teammate. As much as she missed the raven-haired former comrade, she was thankful for him leaving...if he hadn't she would never have grown as much as she had. Now, of course, she just had to focus on getting him _back_, so that things could at least resemble those times long past. However, if it came down to it, she would rather have Sasuke remain a missing-nin than have Naruto sacrifice himself for the sake of getting him back.

She gazed back at the photo, a certain blond-haired boy drawing her attention. _Naruto...I hope you return soon._ At that, she stood and made her way out of the apartment, leaving a note for Naruto on his kitchen table stating that it was her who cleaned the apartment, and for him to come see her whenever he returned. "Maybe I should head over to the Hokage tower, see if Tsunade-shishou could train me or something," she mused. "I've always thought summoning would be a useful skill to learn. I wonder if she could teach me to do it?" She made her way over to her master's office, her mind made up.

* * *

"Yes! That's it!" exclaimed the ancient frog as he watched his charge fully channeling the natural energy around him without even the slightest hint of frog oil on his body...or, for that matter, any of the telltale toad features that would manifest themselves whenever the blond ninja's former sensei would use that same energy.

Said blond ninja looked down at his hands in disbelief. He could literally _feel_ the power flowing into and out of him--as if he were breathing the energy in and letting excess energy out just as easily as he would breathe air. "Am I actually doing it?" he questioned aloud. Once he had stopped thinking about it and let his instincts take over, the progress he had made had become tangible. In a little over a few hours, he had completely mastered the flow of natural energy. It was as if he had always known how to do it...all he had to do was let his subconscious take control and help him remember how--and it felt _right_, like he should have realized from the start that it wouldn't have been a problem to him.

Naruto held out a single hand and began to concentrate chakra experimentally. Effortlessly, the chakra started spiralling randomly, forming a Rasengan in the palm of his hand. He let the chakra dissipate, clenching his fist around where the spinning orb resided a moment ago. "Amazing..." remarked the young shinobi. "I've never been able to make a Rasengan without using up a lot of energy before...but now I can form one one-handed without so much as breaking a sweat."

"Natural energy is a near-unlimited source of power...but it comes at a cost," warned Fukasaku. "If you stay in a state where you can gather it for too long, your chakra coils could burst from a chakra overload, which could end your career as a ninja--or even kill you if it's severe enough."

The hyperactive shinobi nodded, taking in the information. "How long is too long?" he asked, putting a halt to the collection of natural energy in the process.

"Well, that depends on the person," the old frog began. "For most people, it's somewhere around ten minutes or so. After that, you should give your chakra coils enough time to readjust themselves to your normal chakra again."

"Only ten minutes?! You've got to be kidding me!" yelled the boy. "With a limit like that, the only way I could be guaranteed to be able to use it safely is if I only use it for a couple moves!"

"That's only the limit for beginners, though." piped in Gamakichi. "Once your chakra coils get used to expanding and contracting to accommodate the new energy source, it should go up tremendously. The old pervert managed to be able to use it for just over an hour once he got used to it. And then there's your special case...because of that, you should be able to use it for an even longer amount of time, with practice."

Naruto blinked. "My special case...you mean the Kyuubi?"

The wise old amphibian gave the young genin a knowing look. "That's a part of it. The other part lies in your heritage."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "My...heritage?" He ran over to the diminutive frog, stooping down to look him in the eye. "Do you know about my parents?!"

The frog smiled. "Of course...you mean Jiraiya-kun never told you? They were the Fourth Hokage and his wife, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."

For several seconds, the blond-haired shinobi could do nothing more than open his mouth wide in shock. The Fourth Hokage his father? Was the old toad insane? It was impossible! Even...even if he does look almost exactly like him. And even if he has been said to be similar to him, and...okay, so maybe it _was_ possible. But it was unlikely--definitely unlikely. Wasn't it? "You mean to tell me that my...my _father_ is the _Fourth Hokage_? The one who sealed the Kyuubi in me and died to protect the village?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," Fukasaku stated simply. "But that's not even why you have such innate talent with Senjutsu. You get that from your mother. Ninjas from the former Whirlpool Country were quite adept at it, though they were few in number. They were so good, in fact, that they were the target of many other clans during--and even after--the ninja wars, simply because their power was feared. That's why your mother fled to this country when she was younger--to escape a raid on her village."

At that, Naruto's eyes grew even wider (if that was even possible). After babbling for several seconds, his mind finally gave in to the shock and the fatigue of training, and consciousness slipped away from him.

As the orange-loving young man's face made contact with the hard ground, Gamakichi winced visibly. "Hmm...maybe we should have told him to sit down first."

* * *

Sasuke and the rest of team Taka sped away from the Akatsuki hideout, using Karin's tracking abilities to pinpoint the location of Pain's chakra. He was getting closer, but according to Karin's estimate of where Pain was located and the speed he was travelling, they weren't going to arrive in time to beat him to Konoha.

"Karin!" the Uchiha prodigy shouted. "How close is he to Konoha?"

After focusing for a moment, the red-haired kunoichi turned to her companion and said, "He seems to be stopped right by the gates. He may be planing his attack, or waiting until nightfall." She hesitated for a moment. "Um, Sasuke-kun, if you don't mind me asking...why do you care if he kills anyone from Konoha? I thought you severed your ties with them."

"I hate senseless killing," the raven-haired ninja said. His voice seemed to carry an undercurrent of uncertainty...even doubt. "If there's no reason for them to die, why let him do it?"

"But is there a reason for the elders to die?" questioned Juugo cautiously.

Silence was all the young Uchiha offered in reply.

* * *

A/N: Well, that's it for this Phase! What did you think? Yeah, I know it was longer than the first two, but it had to be done...the story just took on a life of its own and wouldn't let me end it any earlier. Also, it fits my theme nicely (purely by accident, I assure you)...and if you still haven't figured it out, look at the story and chapter titles. As an added hint, the next one will be even longer. :P

Be sure to tune in next Phase, when...ah, I'll let you guess for yourselves what happens. Whoever guesses right wins a virtual cookie. Trust me, they're delicious.


End file.
